In my time here, helping with All Hands, I’ve learned two very important things about myself:

  1. Sledgehammers are great therapy.
  2. I LOVE POWER TOOLS.

In the last couple of days we demolished what was left of the home of a single mother and her daughter. It was grim arriving to the site, salvaging what we could, including a baby picture in the rubble, which touched me. Then the little girl, Angela, showed up and said it was her (she’s now 12). Her mood was buoyant and cheerful which lightened things up – if she can be positive about the situation why should we add to it?

Demo-ing is hard work! Moving piles of concrete rubble and rocks, pulling down rafters and sledgehammering through brick walls made for an excellent workout. We had about 19 spectators ranging in ages from four to twenty-four. They enjoyed my sledgehammer artistry as well.

Two, POWER TOOLS! Wow, I had no idea how great this would be for my life. I feel like a more complete person having felt the power of a reciprocating saw carving its way through  2×4. Or how competent I feel knowing how to change a drill bit. Wow. If anyone wants to get me a birthday present, any kind of power tool would get a very nice thank you card from me.

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Start of the day.
And the roof is down!
Ride back to base at the end of the day